Those Above: The Empty Throne Book 1

Get in the xigxag app
This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book.
Pre-order Buy Now £{{ price }}
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

They enslaved humanity three thousand years ago. Tall, strong, perfect, superhuman and near immortal they rule from their glittering palaces in the eternal city in the centre of the world. They are called Those Above by their subjects. They enforce their will with fire and sword.

Twenty five years ago mankind mustered an army and rose up against them, only to be slaughtered in a terrible battle. Hope died that day, but hatred survived. Whispers of another revolt are beginning to stir in the hearts of the oppressed: a woman, widowed in the war, who has dedicated her life to revenge; the general, the only man to ever defeat one of Those Above in single combat, summoned forth to raise a new legion; and a boy killer who rises from the gutter to lead an uprising in the capital.

Those Above is the first of an extraordinary new fantasy epic by the author of the acclaimed Low Town series that will sweep the reader into a wholly alien, wholly recognizable world of rebellion and revenge, of love and of death, of intrigue and pitiless war.

(P)2015 Hodder & Stoughton

Critics Review

  • Machiavellian clockwork glory.

    Mark Lawrence, author of Prince of Thorns

  • Those looking for well-createed and beautifully created fantasy, which also happen to be both darkly comic and devastatingly grim, will find themselves swiftly addicted.

    Starburst

  • Dark fantasy with a decidedly military bent, THOSE ABOVE is the perfect opener for Daniel Polansky’s career beyond Low Town. With his unmistakeable voice and his highly original new world, he draws the reader slowly in until it’s impossible to put the book down and escape back to reality. A brilliant start to what is sure to be one of the fantasy epics of all time, THOSE ABOVE is the work of an author at the top of his game and brings with it the promise of a lot more to come.

    Reader Dad

  • THOSE ABOVE is I, Claudius by way of Tolkien and filtered through Chandler. That is to say, really damn good.

    Pornokitsch

  • From low conflict to high skulduggery, this is Daniel Polansky’s most assured and engrossing novel yet.

    The Sci Fi Bulletin

  • Gripping… Polansky has pulled off a polished fantasy thriller that’s very much in the George RR Martin/Joe Abercrombie vein, but has still given the book its own distinctive style and voice, alongside plenty of evocative world-building. The Empty Throne (series) looks set to be fascinating and provocative.

    SFX

More from the same

Author

Narrator

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to get tailored content recommendations, product updates and info on new releases. Your data is your own: we commit to protect your data and respect your privacy.